It is a common practice in the wholesale and retail plant nursery industry to grow plants in reusable pots or containers, such containers ranging in size from a fraction of an inch to five feet or more in diameter, stepping up the plants from smaller to larger containers as the plants grow . . . . These plant containers are designed, with the top larger in diameter than the base, to allow the removal of the plant and its attached root system intact. From the design, therefore, the plant container is larger and heavier at the top than the bottom, making the container top heavy. In addition, as the plant grows larger in the container, its mass often becomes a surface area large enough and tall enough to add to an already existing problem of more weight and mass at the top rather than the bottom. These two factors combined often create a top heavy plant growing in a top heavy container.
Container plants are, therefore, often pushed over by naturally occurring winds. When this occurs, the plants are damaged as they fall over, soil and fertilizer spill out of the container, the plants do not receive proper watering, and considerable time and effort are consumed to set upright the fallen over container plants.
The present inventor has observed that because of the top heavy condition of container plants and their ease with which they fall over due to winds, many container plants end up damaged or dead. Unless the container plants are held upright, these losses will continue.